"Serena, infiltrating the military is far too risky. Do you really have to go?" Jack leaned on a cane. Although he had lost his eyes, Serena still felt as if she were being watched.
"Uncle Jack, don't worry. I know what I'm doing. Everything our Eldian Restorationists have done in the past hasn't shaken Marley's rule at all. We can't keep wasting time like this. Half of the Marleyan army are our fellow Eldians—they are the true hope of us Eldians!" Serena said firmly.
"But… this shouldn't be something you risk alone." Jack tried to persuade her again, but Serena retorted, "In the last assassination operation, our Restorationists suffered heavy losses. Almost all the core members were killed. Of those left, who has abilities better than mine?"
Serena slung her pack over her back and turned to leave, but after taking a few steps she stopped, hesitated slightly, and said,
"That Ebson… Uncle Jack, I still think he can't be trusted. My intuition tells me something's off about him."
"Serena…" Jack opened his mouth blankly, but in the end said nothing.
On the other side, in a gloomy basement, faint dripping sounds of water could be heard. Under the dim light, the decay and chaos the basement once held were still visible.
Broken shards of glass instruments and scraps of paper were scattered across the floor. There were several wooden beds already somewhat rotten, and even some dried bloodstains on the ground.
A rush of hurried, chaotic footsteps echoed through the basement. A pair of long hands impatiently opened a cabinet. Inside were all kinds of test tubes and glass bottles, clearly quite old, covered everywhere with dust and spider webs.
After opening the cabinet came frantic searching and low growls.
"Where is it? Where exactly is it?"
One bottle after another, one test tube after another, was tossed aside, smashing onto the floor and turning into piles of fragments. Some bottles even leaked out viscous liquid.
After a long while, an excited shout rang out.
"Found it!" A brown bottle with a label was raised before his eyes. On the yellowed label, the mark "y.n" could faintly be seen.
Ebson stared at the bottle in his hand, his face full of excitement. He stood up and left this laboratory he had used long ago. As Ebson stepped out of the basement, barrels of gasoline poured down, and raging flames quickly devoured everything.
Returning to the Louis manor, Ebson rushed back to his room impatiently. This surprised Bill, who was smoking nearby—he had never seen Ebson so flustered.
Opening the hidden compartment in the study, a concealed room appeared before Ebson.
Ebson put on a white lab coat, his face filled with fanatic fervor as he busied himself with a large pile of experimental equipment.
Soon, a petri dish was placed in front of him. Ebson carefully opened the bottle he had brought back from the basement and used a dropper to draw out two drops of dark red liquid, dripping them onto the petri dish.
Immediately after, Ebson took out another bottle that looked much like an ink bottle, drew out a few drops of the black liquid inside, and likewise dripped them into the petri dish.
Ebson immediately clutched a microscope and observed the petri dish nervously.
No one knew how long passed before Ebson let out a crazed laugh.
"Hahahaha! As expected! As expected!!"
A syringe was already gripped in Ebson's hand.
....
Pain! Intense pain! Yago suddenly felt a violent agony in his head, as if someone were driving a sharp awl into his skull bit by bit.
"Ah!!" The severe pain made Yago clutch his head and scream uncontrollably, his whole body going limp as he collapsed.
Yago's sudden change startled everyone around him. Just moments ago he had been chatting and laughing backstage—why did Yago suddenly scream?
The celebration ceremony that was being prepared was temporarily delayed as everyone backstage hurriedly crowded over.
Annie beside Yago reacted quickly and caught him in time before he fell.
"Yago? Yago? What's wrong? Don't scare me!" Annie shouted anxiously.
But Yago kept his eyes tightly shut, gritting his teeth as he let out painful groans.
If Yago had opened his eyes, Annie would have seen his pupils glowing red, emitting a strange light.
In Yago's consciousness, he seemed to see a Titan with sharp fangs and crimson eyes roaring toward the sky in a state of extreme frenzy. At a glance, Yago recognized it as his own Fate Titan after transformation—except this Fate Titan was wrapped all over with eerie black lines.
The intense pain came fast and went just as fast. Yago quickly regained consciousness and opened his eyes in confusion. The first thing he saw was Annie's anxious little face right in front of him. Instinctively, Yago leaned his head forward.
Pop!
The crisp sound stunned Annie—and stunned everyone else around them as well.
"What is this? Is Yago messing with us? If you want to kiss Annie, can't you just do it directly? You scared us!" Historia said with her hands on her hips, puffing with anger. If she weren't about to attend the Survey Corps' celebration ceremony in her queenly regalia, she would definitely have let Yago experience what the Queen's Wrath meant.
That's right—when Yago opened his eyes, the first thing he did was plant a crisp kiss on Annie's cheek.
"Tch!" Seeing that Yago was fine, everyone immediately dispersed in a huff. Jean Kirstein and Connie each shot Yago a look of disdain, and even the usually good-tempered Armin glared at Yago with some dissatisfaction.
Yago: "No, I really was in pain just now!"
But not even Annie, who was holding Yago, believed him. Annie leaned shyly toward Yago's ear and whispered in a bashful voice,
"Don't play pranks like that next time. I… as long as you tell me in advance, it's fine. Y-you can kiss me."
After saying that, Annie pulled Yago up. Looking at Annie's flushed face, Yago didn't know how to explain himself for a moment.
Yago could feel that the intense pain just now was not normal—and why had he seen his Fate Titan wrapped in those eerie black lines?
"Sigh, the world is unpredictable." Unable to figure it out, Yago could only sigh helplessly, then lean a little closer to Annie. What did Annie just say again? It was okay to…?
...
"Bill, make the arrangements. I want to meet the Daiba family." Ebson's voice came from behind. Bill turned his head and froze for a moment, because Ebson was very strange at this time—his whole demeanor was completely different from before.
But Bill still replied, "Yes, my lord."
Ebson lowered his head, a flash of red light passing through his eyes.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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